The Getaway...Crom's build and adventures

Yeah, CA water rights are a fucking mess, using an archaic system. We are also among the last to regulate groundwater (yet to happen, but the historical law has been passed. When water resources planners come to California, they have a very steep learning curve.

So farmers in the CV will go to groundwater pumping when they can' get what they want for their surface water deliveries. Well guess where those wells often are: next to a river, which actually depletes surface water in the local riverine water table. Effectively, stealing from other users.

 

Yeah water in CA is just insane - but so is the whole desert SW really. Southern NV, especially LV, is crazy too.

Ridgecrest, where I used to live once, still has no real idea exactly what the aquifer in the Indian Wells Valley really looks like and there are endless arguments about the town, the base and agriculture in the area when it comes to water use. There are even people advocating more agriculture there! An often popular suggestion among the bona fide idiot class around town is that what Ridgecrest really needs is a nuclear power plant (and what exactly will you cool it with morons?). I can only assume that Ridgecrest does not have a monopoly on stupid when it comes to water management and that most modestly sized water districts in the SW suffer the same planning and management problems.

Anyone who enjoys the desert SW should really have Cadillac Desert on their reading list. It is an older book (1986) but since it is about history it isn't like much changes. Good run down on how we got to the ridiculous water management structures we have in the SW.

Right now the forecast monster El Nino precipitation effect is looking pretty anemic. Snow pack is pretty much on track for an average year (present snow pack ranges from 98% to 111% of average at this date). CA doesn't need an average year, it need multiple gang busters years to get out from under the multiyear drought. This years so far "average" year really just means the whole state won't have to pack up and leave Unless there are some monster spring storms things will be pretty much just as bad as it was last year or the year before.

 

This guys gets it. The snowpack was our real reservoirs, and the entire state system is designed around that. The trend is for those to diminish. The Palisade glacier has been receding rapidly, if not gone, now. More precip will fall as water. And we can't capture that like snow.
Ken, do you work in water resources?

 

@Crom If you get a chance, go over to Padre Dam's water treatment facility. They have a one hour presentation and tour that is pretty cool regarding their filtration system and their status as a proof of concept facility for toilet to tap. My kids just did it with their school a few weeks ago.

I forget the timeline, but in the next few years they expect 30% of water that goes to houses to be recycled water. Helix is on the short list for getting some of the same recycled water.

 

Yep, that's the big deal long term if climate change models pan out for CA. Most of the rain from winter storms runs to the ocean. The snow pack not only acts as a reservoir for one season, it also acts to replenish ground water because the much slower snow melt can actually be absorbed by the soil and aquifers unlike the rapid runoff from rain. So if CA starts getting more rain and less snow on average then there will have to be drastic changes to how water is managed in the state. They are actually starting small scale experiments in the central valley to better capture rain water by flooding fields during rain storms. The trick being not killing or damaging whatever is in the field being flooded for aquifer replenishment.

No, just spent a lot of time in CA and read a lot of natural history, geology and various land use books and articles. I also always try to look up anything I see around the desert that I don't understand... Why are there all these dead trees here? (nearby short lived opportunistic agriculture dropped the water table below their roots) Why was there one random alfalfa field in the Owens Valley for a few years and then it disappeared? (farmer noticed a leak in the LA aqueduct and exploited it until LA DWP noticed and fixed it) Why are they apparently pouring water onto the open desert in southern AZ? (aquifer recharging, if you put CAP water straight into the pipes in some place like Tucson it will leach deposits in the plumbing resulting in horrible water quality much like Flint) And a seemingly new question every time I drive by Owens Lake and see the latest scheme for dust mitigation!

RE: Palisades Glacier, there is a good book on CA glaciers though I think it must be back in MD and didn't make it to CA with me. If I recall correctly almost all the CA glaciers are thought to be remnants of the Little Ice Age (1350-1850) and it is thought there were no CA glaciers immediately preceding that (i.e. the remaining Sierra Nevada glaciers are only 700 years old). Meaning maybe they should all be expected to disappear with any climate change just accelerating the inevitable. Here, I found the relevant page from that book on Google:

https://books.google.com/books?id=4dWOsGb_8EgC&pg=PA108&lpg=PA108#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

That's brilliant! The lawn doesn't mind the soap? What kind of detergent do you use? I recycled a lot of kitchen gray water with a bucket. Getting the shower water would be great.

Another great idea. I never thought of that, but up till last year we didn't run the AC much but last summer was brutal and seems like that may be the norm going forward.

I just got back from Mammoth and was very happy to see all the snow, But its melting very fast with this heat wave now. 89 degrees in HB today.
I kept looking over to the White mtns and thinking about our trip to DV on the other side at the end of next month.
The snow on Friday on the upper part of the mountain was awesome.

I heard they captured a lot of rain water so far this season so that's good news.

 

Since you're a learned man as you are, I'm sure you researched Gray Water systems before doing this. But as a heads up for anyone else that is interested: biodegradable soap is a must to run this setup, because your plants can only break down so much soap before it overcomes them and they die, usually from the soil being contaminated (which means no plants in the future either). Just a heads up for anyone that attempts this. I was looking into a similar system for my home, but our green square footage would not be able to handle the washing machine. Sadly my lot is mostly concrete and asphalt. I have my veggies growing in isolated raised beds that I made from shipping pallets. For grey water systems, your washing machine's built in pump is usually strong enough to push the water out to about 20-30 yards or so as long as it's not going up-hill. A simple diverter valve in the drain plumbing would do the trick. Turn one way to water the plants, turn another way to send down the sewer.

 

I've had solar since 2003, so running the AC has never been an issue. Still, even with our fairly liberal use it doesn't come on until about 3pm most summer days.

As for running it to a bucket...my son decided the copper tube looked like something to pull on. He managed to break it off just at the edge of the metal case protecting it down the wall (not sure of the technical name). That caused the condensate to saturate the stucco. To protect the stucco I added some poly tubing and just routed it into the bucket. Could do it just as easily for a 55g barrel, or anything else.

 

@Crom - I've been doing my research for several weeks now and I always seem to go back to your front end suspension solution. I'm going to shamelessly copy what you have done, without having to go through the trial and error effort that you had to go through. I'm going to order OME 884's for my 5100's set at the "zero" setting. I'm shooting for a 2" lift that will likely bring me down to 1.5" after adding a Mobtown front recovery/receiver mount (~45 lbs) and a portable receiver mounted winch (~85 lbs with cradle). I'm hoping this combination will give me good ride-quality both on and off road. Thanks again for the inspiration and your unrelenting attention to detail.

 

Oddly, the water shortage doesn't feel urgent in Vegas. We have restrictions on when we can water during summer months, but they are not enforced. Water rates are pretty low too. My average bill is $40/mo with a lawn.

This is a pic of my boy two years ago at Callville Bay, Lake Mead. 10 years ago the water level was where he is standing.

 

I think in the end over the past few decades LV has actually done a lot to reduce net water usage, there is a lot of recycling and recapture as I understand it. So yeah there are golf courses, lawns and artificial lakes that are a waste but I thought a lot of the grey water is effectively recycled or returned to the Colorado. In some senses I think they are doing better than a lot of other cities in the SW. The longer term problem is that NV has over time tapped a lot of aquifers that are not being replenished in addition to drawing water from the Colorado. I really haven't a clue though how much of that is attributable to LV growth itself or just agriculture. And really, LV isn't that big population wise to say Phoenix/Tucson or Los Angeles/San Diego so I wonder how much effect the population growth really has. Maybe LV could grow quite a bit still without having a huge impact on the state water usage as a whole. Just not familiar enough with NV to know off the top of my head.

Neat! I'm occasionally on Lake Powell and the drop there has been quite extreme in the past decade as well.

 

Same feeling I have for that mod, the 8in e locker rear end isn't the strongest anyways. Are you still planing to regear anytime soon?

 

if the tire shop cant program the new tpms sensors in for you, I can do it for you with the toyota techstream software

 

@ the Ridgecrest nuclear idea!!!!

Thanks for the book recommendations.

For anyone wanting a plain english version of what has been happening over the last 100 years (Los Angeles stealing water, through chicanery, this Sac Bee article ("Outrage in Owens Valley a century after L.A. began taking its water") is on point, abd it's quite good.

Why this matters to me personally is that, the Owens Valley / 395 route is a precious place, and serves a a major point of intersection for back country adventures. The High Sierra Mountains to the West, and Death Valley to the East.

Glad you got out to Mammoth! Love that area!

Here is a neat pic from last summer of my oldest peering into one of the natural hot springs we visited just East of Mammoth.



We use Costco brand, Kirkland liquid detergent in the big orange bottles. My lawn grew really green and did really well. It didn't mind the soap at all. I think it's all biodegradable now. I did move the hose around a bit to water different sections.

Art Ludwig is the guy I learned how to do Laundry to Lanscape from.

So cool that you're able to grow your own veggies! I am not there yet, but so want to be! Kuddos.

Do it! You are very welcome. With the 884 spring, you'll retain more down travel too. So your ride should be pretty awesome. I'm so happy with my 5100 shock / 885 spring combo, that in 4 more years or so, I'll either replace with the same or investigate / upgrade to the Bilstein 6112.

Cool pic!

It's nuts what happening to Lake Mead. I read up a little bit on last years news. I see they finally pulled the bathtub plug for the final "third straw." Man, talk about an engineering marvel! Wow.

Unless I find an enormous pile of money, I will not regear until at least 2017. I've gotten used to the truck the way it is and it doesn't bother me too much now.

Much appreciated! Thanks for offering.

 

Handheld Radio Comms

Our family makes use of radios whenever we separate for any reason while on trips. It's very convenient.

Pictured below are two handheld radios that I use on the VHF/UHF ham bands.
They are Chinese made, by a company called Baofeng.

Baofeng 2013 Newest Dual Band VHF and UHF Walkie Talkie, 5-watt, Black

Baofeng model UV-B5. Spectrum Analyzer results.

I have a hard time recommending anything by this company since quality is not a priority, but they're not junk either. It's hit or miss it seems.

For $27 each at the time of purchase, I wasn't expecting too much. Since owning them over two years they have been really good. Only once did one malfunction, in which case power cycling fixed it.

• Dual VHF UHF UV B5
• Freq range:136-174 & 400-470MHz
• 99 memory channels
• Li-ion battery pack with 1800mAh high capacity
• FM radio function

There is a little bit of a learning curve with them, but not too bad. I programmed mine with a

$23 BTECH PC03 FTDI Universal Plug & Play USB Programming Cable for BTECH, Baofeng, Kenwood Radios - Compatible with UV-5R, BF-F8HP, GMRS-V2, UV-82HP & More - Easy Setup, No Driver Needed

USB cable and a free program called Chirp.



In theory it would be possible to do something like this:


In theory this might be possible as well.


Some accessories that have augmented their usefulness

1. Tram 1185 Amateur Dual-Band Magnet Antenna
2. $7 DHT Electronics Handheld Antenna Cable for Wouxun Baofeng Quasheng Linton - Adapter for UHF Base and Mobile Antennas - SMA Female to UHF SO-239 Female Connectors 6'' Pack of 2
   SMA Female to UHF SO-239 Female Connectors
3. Battery eliminator (for plugging into 12v outlet)
4. Speaker Mic.
5. FTDI Authentic Genuine USB Programming Cable

In theory, if someone owned this radio, and programmed it for MURS / FRS / GMRS, they probably would not be seen as "trouble makers" by the FCC. It probably would help a lot to have a good attitude, and play nice with others on the air waves. If a frequency is busy, move to a clear one... If you want to talk to someone, mind your manners, be polite, and talk to them with common sense, etc.

MURS Channel Frequency Authorized bandwidth Channel Name

• 151.820 MHz 11.25 kHz N/A (narrow band)
• 151.880 MHz 11.25 kHz N/A (narrow band)
• 151.940 MHz 11.25 kHz N/A (narrow band)
• 154.570 MHz 20.00 kHz Blue Dot (wide band)
• 154.600 MHz 20.00 kHz Green Dot (wide band)

List of FRS channels
Channel Frequency (MHz) Notes
1 462.5625 Shared with GMRS
2 462.5875 Shared with GMRS
3 462.6125 Shared with GMRS
4 462.6375 Shared with GMRS
5 462.6625 Shared with GMRS
6 462.6875 Shared with GMRS
7 462.7125 Shared with GMRS
8 467.5625 FRS use only
9 467.5875 FRS use only
10 467.6125 FRS use only
11 467.6375 FRS use only
12 467.6625 FRS use only
13 467.6875 FRS use only
14 467.7125 FRS use only

FRS radios use narrow-band frequency modulation (NBFM) with a maximum deviation of 2.5 kilohertz

 

Excellent info here Nick! I'm new to HAM and currently use this little guy from Baofeng:

$60 Baofeng Radio US BF-F9 V2+ 5-Watt Hi-Power Dual-Band 145-155/400-520 MHz Hand Held Ham Radio Two-Way Transceiver - With Battery, Earpiece, Antenna & Charger (BFF9V2BLACK)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...rue&ref_=ox_sc_sfl_title_9&smid=AM1AKWRN957PC

I don't have any complaints, but my prior experience with handhelds has been with the cheap stuff from Sports Chalet or something like that. We used a lot of the cheap radios when I used to take kids camping with my church group. Made the kids feel better having them once they stopped goofing around with them, but really I knew that without a clear line of sight they were pretty useless. Me and a few other guys have used the same Baofeng model above when we go off road, but none of us are licensed. Some of them don't care, but I still want to get my license. I'm sure there's a bunch of stuff that they are capable of that I'm missing out on by not knowing how to use them properly. Although I did find out how to use the FM radio to listen to music and the stupid little LED flashlight!

 

Good to hear. VHF radios are great. Good clear audio. In a nutshell the Baofengs don't conform to the FCC's rules for the radio services I listed above, mainly the detachable antenna and extra power. However, they are A-OKAY for HAM use.

For persons who don't have an FCC license, the MURS frequencies are probably the best to use. When I'm out in the wilderness, I scan stored memory channels for FRS, GMRS, MURS, and 2-Meter simplex (VHF HAM). I always find people, and sometimes it's fun to talk to them. On my last DV trip, I found a small group near Lippincott mine. I was 10 miles away and spoke to them to find out some basic trail intel.

In the past, lot of public safety agencies operated analog VHF radios. In my urban area, almost all are digital now. In rural areas, there are probably lots of fire / public safety agencies still VHF analog. For example, BLM, National Forest Service, CA State Parks, and CalFIRE are still analog VHF. You can listen in to their transmissions with the Baofeng, perfectly okay to monitor, but don't transmit on them! And that's where one has to be careful with these radios.

 

This is exactly why I like reading your thread... Thanks again!

 

Crom - are you using your stock UCA with your 885/5100 combo?

 

Yessir!